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Good morning, San Diego.

Andrew Keatts
Andrew Keatts, General Manager and Editor

Four San Diego schools are finalists for national “best schools” recognition.

The Midway area’s Dewey Elementary, North Park’s Garfield Elementary, Valencia Park’s Nye Elementary and Clairemont’s Sequoia Elementary are among 17 nationwide schools up for the 2026 award from the National Center for Urban School Transformation.

Schools compete on criteria determined by the group, measuring academic achievement across racial groups, high attendance rates and low rates of suspension and teacher absences.

Officials from Garfield and Dewey shared with our Mireya Miner what they think they’ve figured out about running a great school. Check it out.

In other news, gas in San Diego is about as expensive as it gets in the U.S.. (Not much of a surprise there). And the San Diego Water Authority, stocked with water through 2050, is moving forward with plans to sell excess water to regions with a shortage, in hopes of lowering local water rates (also some of the highest in the country).

The Aztecs are going to have to sweat through Sunday’s selection show to see if they can sneak into the NCAA Tournament, after they lost the Mountain West championship, and the automatic tourney birth that comes with it, to Utah State on Saturday.

Thoughts? Opinions? Share them with us at news@timesofsandiego.com.


Today’s top story

Teaching, culture boost San Diego schools in running for 2026 America’s Best Schools award

By Mireya Miner

San Diego has four of the 17 schools nationwide selected by the National Center for Urban School Transformation as finalists for the award.


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6 stories to start your day


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Today’s opinion column

Opinion: The remarkable rise of art therapy for San Diego health

The growing interest in art therapy is based on the belief that the creative process involved in making art is healing and life-enhancing.


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